The Evil of Men
by wa7chface
Summary: The abuse of power is a curse upon the world. A curse that has haunted mankind since the beginning of time. To prevent the abuse of power tyrants must be brought low and Hunters must become Hunted.
1. Chapter 1

5 Years ago

Judas Dominus was a hunted man, ironic considering his profession. As an Atlesian Specialist and covert operative he thought he was untouchable. Now, a combination of a lucky faunus, a few declassified records, and his own hubris had turned Judas into a fugitive.

Within the confines of his Minstrali safe house the rouge huntsman prepared to flee. Possessions were scattered across the floor and multiple tables as he frantically packed several duffel bags full of food, clothing, and weapons. As he left the apartment complex to pack his car the clerk at the front desk asked him to check out before leaving. After ensuring the lobby and the street outside was clear of any witnesses Judas drew his sidearm, a suppressed .45 caliber handgun, and shot the unfortunate soul three times. Two of the bullets entered the attendant's chest below the speed of sound, splintering his sternum and shredding the heart and lungs underneath. The final round was placed directly in between his eyes, severing his brain stem.

The corpse hit the floor with a loud thump, ominously similar to the weapon which had taken his life. Judas left the building in a panic. He had at most a few minutes before someone discovered the body and the police were notified. The huntsman was growing increasingly paranoid, searching the street and rooftops for any possible threat. After about ten minutes of walking he finally spotted the abandoned parking garage, and his salvation.

Within the concrete monolith's third floor was his escape vehicle, an armored SUV with tinted windows. When he tried to unlock the driver's side door he discovered that someone had welded the door to the body of the car. Judas hastily drew a broadsword from one of his bags and prepared to cut the car open. Moments before he struck an electronically altered voice spoke behind him.

"We both know that won't work, traitor."

Startled, the operative turned towards the source of the noise. At the entrance stood a tall figure clad from head to toe in dull grey steel plate armor. Each armor peace looked like it had been tailor made for the wearer, every bit of steel was closely fit to the chainmail and padding underneath. The black cloak he wore seemed to absorb all the light around him. What unsettled Judas most was the headpiece. Instead of the normal steel helmet which accompanied plate armor was a grey mask which covered his entire face. The mask itself was almost entirely featureless, with the exceptions of a pair of black lenses which allowed him to see, and a slight peak for his nose.

With his paranoia in full swing Judas checked the rest of the semi-lit area for other adversaries. Upon completing the search he realized the assassin was alone, and with a laugh brought his sword into a guard position.

A voice came from behind the mask once more. "Judas Dominus, you are a traitor, a liar, a thief, and a murderer, this depravity has cost dozens of innocent people their lives, and hundreds more unimaginable grief and suffering. As you stand here hoping to flee from the judgment you deserve, you prove yourself a coward as well. Creatures such as you must be brought to justice for their crimes. Now you face that justice. By order of the Grandmaster, you are to be captured or killed at any cost. Will you come peacefully and face trial by your rules? Or will you choose to end your life here?"

At the end of his monologue the armored man drew his own weapon, a two handed kriegsmesser. In response the huntsman charged towards the assassin. Before he had closed half of the distance the air shifted and suddenly an Ursa Major charged from the darkness, its claws intent on ripping Judas to pieces. Inches before the Grimm reached him it vanished into mist, replaced by the armored figure thrusting his blade at the rouge Atlesian's throat.

Before the blade found it's mark Judas was able to redirect the blade into the concrete at his left side. He followed up on the successful parry with a thrust towards the assassin's armpit with the intention of destroying his shoulder. The armored warrior simply stepped to his right and allowed the point to bounce off the steel cuirass.

While Judas tried to recover from his failed attack the assassin grabbed the traitor's wrist and tossed him across the room. To the rouge's credit not only did he remain conscious throughout the ordeal, he had managed to retain his sword. Unfortunately the force of the throw had cost almost a third of his Aura. Combined these feats gave the armored figure a grudging respect for his enemy, as a warrior if nothing else. As he moved in to deliver the coup de grâce the Atlesian recovered his footing and drew his pistol. The slow moving .45 hollow points might as well have been snowballs as far as the steel armor and mask were concerned.

After eleven shots failed to pierce the plate armor Judas panicked and was about to load another fourteen round magazine when he was forced to defend against an overhead strike meant to cleave him from shoulder to hip. While he was able to parry the blow the curved blade managed to clip the last inch of his shoulder, further draining his Aura.

Desperation overcame the cornered man. In a final gambit the huntsman used the pommel of his broadsword to strike the mask while it was exposed. This strike proved as futile as the last and the shock of the impact caused Judas to drop his sword. He fell to the ground, clutching his injured hand to his chest.

The assassin almost pitied the man before him. Judas was nothing more than an opportunistic coward who used his training and resources for personal gain. When he faced justice for these action he chose to run. After a moment of hesitation the armored warrior remembered the horrors and atrocities committed by the human supremacy groups backed by Dominus. There was no questioning what must be done. A single stroke of the kriegsmesser opened the traitor's throat.

After the Atlesian had bled out the armored figure did three things. First was to retrieve the dead man's sword and pistol, they would make fine trophies. Second he took a set of fingerprints to confirm the kill. Third was to place a card in the corpse's right hand. When he left the complex the assassin called the police and informed them of the body's location. As investigators searched the body they found a business card in one of the victim's hands. Upon the card was a blank grey mask, and the words Sic Semper Tyrannis.

 **A/N Welcome to my first (published) RWBY fanfiction. The inspiration for this story came from a conversation that I had with some friends of mine about the upcoming film Captain America: Civil War. We were discussing who we agreed with (Tony Stark FTW) and the one thing we could both agree on was that people with such power needed to be monitored by a third party, and that this third party needed to have a plan in place to deal with any murderous superhumans.**

 **I'm going to need some OCs to help this story along, for teams at the huntsman academies and rouge huntsmen so please send me as many as you can. I may need to make some slight alterations to your characters but I will keep as much as I can from your original creation. Thank you for your time, this is wa7chfac3 signing off.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, or the AU this story takes place in. This story is an expansion of From Hunted to Hunter. RWBY belongs to Roosterteeth and the AU belongs to CC-2224 Commander Cody.**

I made my way through the rooftops of Vale, eyes darting between the buildings of the foreign Kingdom. The Shogun had warned me that enemies may lie in any shadow. With this in mind the I jumped at every noise, prepared to strike at any moment.

My suspicions proved true when an arming sword came into view, nearly blinding me. To his credit my assailant didn't stop after one failed attempt, smoothly transitioning into a lunge that would've impaled me through the chest if I hadn't deflected the blade with my Aura. Leaping back, I drew the .410 gauge revolver at my side and fired two shells in his direction. To my displeasure, most of the pellets were deflected by his body armor. Cursing, I drew the small baton at my side and pointed it at my attacker.

"Drop your weapons and I'll let you live."

In response he stepped into the moonlight, revealing the blank grey mask he wore.

"I was about to give you the same offer. You're trespassing Samurai, unless you wish to die you will disarm." His modified voice was cold, filled with a calm steel. This didn't make any sense, I had been invited to Vale by the Grey Masks and now one of their assassins had me at swordpoint. Before this could continue another distorted voice pierced the night.

"Stand down Duelist. I'm afraid there's been a misunderstanding of sorts." At that moment the Grandmaster himself stepped in. "Mr. Hanta is my guest, and your partner." He bowed to me

This 'Duelist' lowered his weapon, but kept it drawn. "I was under the impression that Beacon was to be a small scale infiltration. Why would we need Brotherhood help?"

"Because we don't have anyone else young enough to provide you backup. Your mentor requested such measures."

I could almost sense the Grey Mask's hesitation.

'Can't exactly blame him. Our orders aren't on the best of terms.' Finally, Duelist sheathed the blade and bowed his head to the Grandmaster.

"If I may be so bold, why was I not informed of this Samurai's arrival? Had the battle continued any longer a fatality may have sparked a war between our orders."

"The leak has compromised high level operations before. If Mr. Hanta's arrival were public knowledge we would have a corpse instead of an ally." Darius's clipped response made it clear his motives were not to be questioned.

To break the silence I bowed at the waist to the old man. "The Shogun sends his regards, and regrets that he cannot meet with you in person."

Grandmaster returned the gesture. "Inform him that I would be willing to arrange such a meeting, and send my thanks for sending a Samurai of your pedigree." He then turned to his subordinate. "Duelist, would you be so kind as to escort us back to base?"

"Of course Grandmaster." The swordsman inclined his head and proceeded to the fire escape. After descending the building he lifted manhole cover and waited for the Grandmaster and me to go under. Duelist was only a second behind, checking to ensure that we were not followed.

From here the Grandmaster took the lead, guiding me through the concrete maze until we reached another manhole after about two hours of walking. Duelist then climbed up and lifted the cast iron onto the street.

'Well, good to know that I'm trusted.' I thought with a hint of annoyance as I realized that part of the sewer's purpose had been to maintain the HQ's secrecy. I didn't recognize any buildings around me and the younger Grey Mask walked directly towards a generic office building. The moment I entered I felt like I was being watched.

'Obviously, I just walked into the headquarters of one of the world's most secretive organizations. It would be more of a surprise if I weren't being watched.' By the time we reached an elevator I had noticed at least three security cameras following my movements. As the elevator doors closed Duelist blocked my view of the keypad as he pushed a combination of numbers.

To my surprise I felt is begin to move down. It took about thirty seconds for those doors to reopen and I was welcomed by the sight of several Grey Masks training, working at terminals, or chatting amongst themselves. As we passed some stopped to watch us, their posture giving off a relaxed confidence.

'They don't consider me a threat!' For a moment, I was furious. 'Wait. Why would they? I'm a seventeen year old kid. They're all highly trained and experienced assassins. It would be arrogant for me to expect anything but confidence from them.'

With my ego reigned in I walked through the underground complex towards the Grandmaster's office. When we arrived I saw at least forty weapons lining the walls, a mahogany desk and three tall leather backed chairs around it. The Grandmaster took a seat behind the desk and removed a folder from one of its lower drawers. After placing it on the desk the masked man gestured for me to take a seat.

"Duelist, you may report back to Justiciar, I hear he has been planning a test to gauge your progress." The younger Grey Mask bowed and left. He waited a moment before addressing me. "I must apologize if your Shogun was light on the details of our arrangement. I wasn't able to risk too much of my operation with the leak. Surely you understand."

"Not a problem sir. The Shogun told me that all would be explained when I arrived."

"And it shall, but let me ask you, has the Brotherhood been able to deal with some of the smaller threats in Atlas with the aftermath of the Highlands War?" The old man clasped his hands on the table.

I hesitated for a moment. "It's been difficult to find the personnel available to track down the remnants of the Black Fist's Hunters. Wartime attrition has taken its toll upon us."

"Very well, we may need to cut your role in this mission short. Are you familiar with Beacon Academy's headmaster Ozpin?"

"Only by reputation."

"There have been rumors that he's been accepting deserters from the Highlands war into Beacon. I need people on the inside who can get close to these deserters, assess them, and if necessary, neutralize them."

"Will I have any help on the inside?"

"Of course. One of my operatives has been working there for years as a Professor, and one of my younger apprentices will accompany you."

"If you already have people on the inside why can't they do this alone?" The possibility of a trap set off alarm bells in my mind.

"My options are limited Mr. Hanta. The Professor can only assess so many students, and I only have one apprentice available. On average there are forty eight students each year, two people aren't enough."

I considered leaving for just a moment, until realizing that the Grey Masks had nothing to gain by deceiving me. "Alright, I'll do it."

The Grandmaster's body language relaxed slightly as he pulled more documents from his folder. We spent the next several hours discussing the finer details of my cover, available weapons, and the possible problems with my infiltration. As far as I knew I would be the first student from Ishiyama Hongan Ji to attend Beacon. This preparation came to a halt when another Grey Mask knocked on the door and let the Grandmaster know the sun had risen and all deployed Grey Masks had reported back from their missions.

"Ah, my apologies Mr. Hanta, you must be exhausted. Justiciar will escort you to the sleeping quarters I've set aside for you. Come back to me when you've rested. Taking a bow I left, following the other assassin.

 **A/N: And so it begins, the rewrite of The Evil of Men. I'm going to be reworking some of my characters and plot points that were poorly executed my first time around, if you have any questions let me know.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, or the AU this story takes place in. This story is an expansion of From Hunted to Hunter. RWBY belongs to Roosterteeth and the AU belongs to CC-2224 Commander Cody.**

 **Hanta Tori's POV: Beacon Academy Airship; Week one of the First Semester**

I didn't mind flying. Knowing that I was so far off the ground gave me a feeling of power, like I was seeing the world through the eyes of a god. After marveling at the Valen city scape of a while I left my place at the window to seek out my Grey Mask counterpart. Due to the relatively small size of the ship I was able to spot Duelist within five minutes.

The Grey Mask constantly held a cold, calm demeanor. The assassin stood well over six feet tall possessing a lean, athletic build. After finding him I waited for a few minutes, only approaching when he pulled out a paperback novel and started from the middle. Upon seeing the "all's clear" signal I tried to lighten the mood.

It had become my personal mission to make the assassin laugh, so far I had failed miserably. "I'm surprised you haven't been figured out yet Edward. There aren't many giants around."

He answered back with a clipped, somewhat irritated response. "There are many Hunters in Vale with a similar build to mine, and I would appreciate it if you didn't risk my cover for the sake of a joke."

'Damn, thought I finally had it.' There was an awkward silence the Grey Mask didn't seem to notice, pale violet eyes tracking across the pages of his book. "Well, I'll keep that in mind. Are you looking forward to seeing Beacon?"

"Not particularly. It's a school, a school with particularly dangerous students, but a school nonetheless."

"You would be the worst guest at a party, you know that?"

"Probably because I'm used to a more professional environment. Like it or not we are not tourists. We are here to accomplish a specific task, and once said task is completed it is simply a matter of maintaining our cover until graduation."

'Wow. The opportunity to study at the most renowned Huntsmen Academy on Remnant and he acts like we're stopping at a convenience store. This is going to be a long four years.' I groaned internally as the assassin continued reading the book in front of him. 'How am I going to get a reaction out of you Agent Smith?'

A hologram powered on near the center of the airship, showing a professional looking blonde lady with a tattered cape clasped around her shoulders. "Hello, and welcome to Beacon. My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy!"

'Or we're assassins looking to kill the war criminals you're harboring. Gotta love Ozpin's casual stance towards International Law.'

"Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace,"

'Oh, that's just bullshit.'

"And as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it.

'You mean that it's our job to keep the populous happy, ignorant of the true fragility of your Kingdom, keeping the Grimm away in the process.'

"You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task,"

'Along with a particularly good cover story.'

"And now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."

'Can't argue with a free education.'

As if to punctuate her speech Goodwitch's hologram faded just as we were preparing to land. "Gotta admit, pictures just don't do it justice."

"It certainly leaves a good first impression." Edward examined the spectacle for a few seconds before making his way towards the door. For my part I decided to stick around for a bit, taking in the welcoming atmosphere of the establishment. After a bit I decided to retrieve my carry on bag from one of the storage compartments just in time to see some blonde kid vomit on a girl's shoes.

In the time it took me to retrieve my belongings Edward had managed to get lost in the crowd, leaving me to find my way towards the auditorium. With the large number of upperclassmen in the courtyard greeting the new students I became incredibly self conscious. Many of my contemporaries were from the kingdoms, in their full combat gear. By comparison my star struck expression, casual clothing, and lack of weapons marked me as an outsider.

It took a bit of milling around but I did eventually find someone else who was just as clueless as I was, unfortunately she managed to blow a crater in the nice cobblestone walkway. After distancing myself from that incident it didn't take long for me to find the auditorium, the general flow of the airship's passengers marking the way.

When compared to the school's exterior the auditorium was surprisingly mundane. There were no marble pillars, imposing statues, or even intricate walkways, just an assembly floor, a red curtain, and a stage with a single microphone. My fellow students talked among themselves for a bit as they waited for the Headmaster to address them. Unfortunately they mostly stuck with people they already knew, leaving me the odd man out.

I was starting to daydream when the famous Headmaster Ozpin took the stage and approached the single microphone in the center. "I'll...keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge-to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose – direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

Goodwitch approached the mic after the Headmaster finished. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins, be ready. You're dismissed."

During the speech Edward had somehow found me in the crowd. "Gods forbid they tell us anything conclusive. We may actually learn something then." I had just spent the last few days living in the Grey Mask HQ, which gave me my fill of cryptic bullshit for the next year.

"It's possible that initiation is meant to test our skills under pressure. It's one thing to know every opening, tactic, and strategy in chess, actually executing them is another thing entirely."

"Still, pretty shady that students don't know what initiation is."

"I disagree, there are hundreds of different species of Grimm. You don't get to prepare to fight one type in particular, a Hunter must be prepared for anything."

"We're students not fully trained Hunters. There's no point to keeping us in the dark like this." Duelist still didn't look convinced. Shaking my head I left to find the baggage claim.

Fortunately the lines of students helped me again. Within the hour I managed to retrieve my weapon, armor, and other baggage before moving to the locker room and storing my gear. By this time most of the others were getting ready to go to sleep.

Just as I was about to drift off two fights broke out on both sides of the room. Some scar faced kid and scrawny blonde had started an all out brawl, similarly three girls had started something of a cat fight. Needless to say my eyes nearly rolled out of my damn skull. Even if Ozpin liked having students from a diverse background he should screen them and prevent such pointless aggression. The best I could do was use my Aura to block out the noise and turn towards the wall.

 **The Next Morning: May Ignis' POV**

This was going to be either the best, or worst, day of my life. I was at Beacon Academy with one of my best friends, I was probably going to meet my team today, and we were going to see the world together. Only one thing stood in my way.

"Come on Topaz, wake up! Breakfast is almost over."

"Just go yourself." Topaz replied groggily, turning away from me. "I'll get something after initiation."

"But that could be hours from now! Come on, if you don't eat you'll be hungry later."

The taller girl groaned in frustration. "Fine, just give me a few minutes." Rubbing one of her eyes, Topaz Ignacia propped herself up on her right arm and glared at me. "I hope there's coffee."

After a few moments of stretching the sleep from her muscles Topaz was ready to eat, not caring that she was still in her pajamas. It took us a few minutes to walk to the cafeteria and get in line. "Looks like you're not alone." I chuckled, gesturing to several other students who hadn't changed yet.

"See. Not everyone's as worried as you." Topaz gave me a friendly punch on the arm. "Now let's eat." We were lucky, the cafeteria was serving pancakes, eggs, and bacon this morning. "Hell yes. If the food's always going to be like this class won't be so bad." We didn't say anything else for the next fifteen minutes while we ate.

"You ready to go?" I asked as we returned our dishes.

"Oh yeah. Gonna kick ass and take names today." Her smile was infectious.

"Don't get too cocky. I've heard that Beacon's initiation is pretty tough."

"We're tougher."

"Alrighty then. Don't blame me when someone needs to save you from an Ursa."

"I'll be sure to yell for you." We both laughed a bit before making our way to the locker room. It was about half full with students collecting their gear.

"Man, kinda wish we waited a bit." I whispered. "There's so many people here."

"So? Take a look around. You'll get to know 'em all pretty well. A few of them might end up being your teammates."

"Yeah, but I don't want to get my hopes up. Supposedly Pyrrha Nikos came to Beacon this year."

"Fair enough I guess. What do you think Initiation's going to be like?"

"I think we'll be facing Grimm. It's the easiest way to see if someone's ready to be a Hunter." I said while entering the code to my locker. Once the door opened I removed my weapon from inside and checked the transition pieces between the blade, action, and Dust cell.

"Hopefully. I just can't wait to meet my teammates." Topaz was doing the same for her weapon, making sure that the latch system holding the blade in place would function at a moment's notice before placing the hilt on her right hip and the large collapsing blade on her left.

"You think that they've already been chosen? Ozpin has our applications."

Admittedly, I hadn't thought of that. "I guess. I'd make his life a whole lot easier." The possibility made me frown with concern. 'Does Initiation really matter then?'

"Get that look off your face May, it'll be fine." Topaz put a hand on my shoulder. "You'll probably luck out and get some guy with a oversized sledgehammer as a partner."

"Yeah, I'd get along so well that that." My voice dripped with good natured sarcasm. "We've got about an hour before we need to report to the cliffs, anything you need to do before we go?"

"Where's your letterman?"

I looked inside the locker for my jacket, only to find it empty without my weapon. "I must've left it on the plane!" Before my friend had a chance to react I started running towards the baggage claim.

 **Hanta Tori's POV**

Seeing where Ozpin wanted us to gather for initiation didn't tell me much. I was standing a few yards away from the cliff's edge overlooking Emerald Forest, milling around with other students while waiting for Initiation to start. I had been checking and re checking the straps of my kikko armor for the last ten minutes, the coming events weighing heavily on my mind.

'No idea how that guy does it.' I thought. Edward just arrived a minute ago, and had done nothing but examine the metal platforms on the cliff and stare out into the forest itself. His face had remained cold and passive, simply watching his environment and analyzing the situation in front of him.

"I forgot some equipment in my locker, I'll be back in a minute." He told me before walking back towards the locker room. As the Grey Mask left I tried to figure out what he had forgotten. Both his saber and revolver hung at his left side, the armored greatcoat was buttoned up and belted at the waist, and his parrying dagger was in position sheathed across his chest. 'What aren't you telling me Edward? What do you see that I don't?' His secrecy continued to irritate me, the man always held his cards close to the vest, no matter the circumstances.

In the time it took for him to come back most of the other students arrived at the cliffs. The warning that only five minutes remained until initiation was given and Edward came back just as we were taking positions.

"Took you a while." To be honest I was I little irritated with the assassin. "You forget your keys."

"I lacked a landing strategy." Laura held up one of his vambraces, now noticeably thicker than before. "It would be rather embarrassing to die on impact with the forest floor, hardly worthy of the 6th's reputation."

"What do you mean 'landing strategy?'" The pieces started coming together in my mind.

"You didn't figure it out? We've been standing around here for an hour." Edward took his position on the third platform from the left.

"Let's assume that I didn't. Any advice?"

"Don't die on impact."

'Oh fuck you.' I thought bitterly. Before I could let Edward know exactly what I thought of him Ozpin began addressing us.

"For years you have trained to become warriors, and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

'Really? It's that simple?'

Goodwitch spoke next. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today."

'Figured that out already.' I thought, though many of my fellow students seemed surprised.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon, so it's in your best interest to be paired with someone with which you can work well."

'Pretty common sense there.'

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

'Who the hell thought that was a good idea!' I looked to Edward, hoping to see some sort of reaction. He was just nodding, as if this made perfect sense! 'Madman! The Shogun wants me to work with a madman!'

"After you've paired up make your way to the northern end of the forest. There will be resistance along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die."

'Correction, grandpa wants me to work with, and take orders from madmen.'

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene."

'By the Gods, everyone here is insane.'

"You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately."

'So it's that simple. Land in the forest, kill everything in front of you, get some relic, and return alive. Shouldn't be too difficult.' While I was thinking one of the other students asked about parachutes, only to learn that we would be employing our own landing strategies. Within thirty seconds other students were launched into the forest.

'When I make it out of this, I'm kicking Edward's ass.'

 **A/N: Thank you all for being so patient. My computer isn't working at the moment so I was forced to use the Google Docs app on my phone to type this. After I finish Initiation expect this story to be updated with greater frequency, for those of you who have written stories set at Beacon, you know how difficult it can be to get there.**

 **I'll see you all next time- Wa7chface**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, or the AU this story takes place in. This story is an expansion of From Hunted to Hunter. RWBY belongs to Roosterteeth and the AU belongs to CC-2224 Commander Cody.**

 **May Ignis' POV**

'You know, this place isn't too bad when you aren't constantly swarmed by Grimm.' I thought as I moved through the forest. 'If only I knew which way was north.' Unfortunately had I lost my orientation when I landed, and I couldn't see the cliffs from the ground. All that left was guesswork, and the hope my partner would know the way.

I spent about half an hour jar walking forward, until the distant growls, yelps, and cries of Ursi caught my attention. After ensuring that Inferno was loaded I sprinted in the direction of the Grimm. As the sounds grew louder I grew closer to the action, the dense trees impeding my progress. Within five minutes I made it to the source of the noise as the battle ended. Three Ursa were cleanly dismembered on the forest floor and her new partner was inspecting the bodies.

"Hey, over here!" I waved my hand at my fellow student. "Do you know which way is North?"

He sheathed the cavalry saber in his left hand and turned to address me.

When my partner spoke his voice was softer than I expected. "In a moment. I'd like to study these things first."

"What? How do you not know what an Ursa is?" I asked.

"I don't hunt Grimm often, if that's a problem feel free to tell our team leader when they're appointed." His response felt too neutral, lacking tone entirely.

'Oh shit, I hope that didn't offend him.'

Within a few minutes the bodies had disintegrated and my new partner frowned. He waited for a moment, checking that the other corpses were gone before reaching into his greatcoat and pulling out a compass.

"So what's your name?"

"Edward. Yours?"

"May." I waited a moment before continuing. "Soooooo, do you know where we're going?

"I will in a moment. Compass is acting up"

'You're not much for small talk are you?'

Edward didn't wait for me to respond before moving out of the clearing. We were walking for almost an hour while I was trying to get a read on my partner. From what I could tell he was confident, walking through the forest with his weapon sheathed and eyes forward. Unfortunately he was also quiet. The entire time my partner hadn't said a word to me, and I felt incredibly awkward.

I stopped in my tracks when he put his right hand up in a fist. "Grimm on our left. Sounds pretty big, get your weapons ready." He proceeded to draw a cavalry saber and a revolver. For my part I activated my gauntlet's laser sight. The same nervousness I felt when initiation started came back, chewing away at my gut.

A large hedgehog-like Grimm came barreling at us, spines bristling. Both of us dove off to the side, surrounding the monster. It turned to face me, it's deep growling caused me to take a half step back before holding my ground.

'Dammit May, get it together.' I didn't hesitate to open up on the Grimm, unleashing a barrage of .32 Dust tipped rounds into the Grimm's face. The small explosive rounds blasted chunks out of the Grimm's spines, burned and tore its thick hide, but wasn't lethal. In response the hedgehog hissed, puffed out its spines and launched several of them in all directions.

My Semblance kicked in, warning me what the trajectory of the spines was likely to be. Knowing this I was able to duck one of the projectiles while parrying another. The breath was knocked out of my lungs and flew several feet as the creature tackled me. Several gunshots cracked through the air as my partner fired his revolver into the Grimm. It took a couple of seconds for the beast to face Edward, but when it did the hedgehog rolled up into a ball and rushed him spines forward. My partner immediately leapt into the canopy overhead, returning to my side as the Grimm dislodged itself from a tree trunk.

"I say retreat, before we get in over our heads."

"Won't hear any arguments from me." Without another word we sprinted off into the forest. After about ten minutes we stopped to get our bearings. Edward took the time to reload his revolver, taking several rounds from a leather case at his belt.

"How are you on ammo?"

"I've got a few magazines left, haven't used my flamethrower yet."

"Wait, you have a flamethrower? Why didn't you use it?" My partner had a slight frown on his face

"Oh yeah, lighting the walking pincushion on fire would solve all of our problems. That thing wasn't about to drop dead just because I cooked it a little."

"I was asking for an explanation, not trying to start a fight. I apologize if that offends you." I didn't know what was more infuriating, Edward's neutral tone, or the fact he wasn't even looking at me.

"Fine, let's just keep going." Without another word Edward took the lead through the forest, hopefully heading north. With each passing moment my apprehension grew. 'How far away is this temple. Hope Ozpin doesn't expect us to stay here overnight.' The prospect of camping here didn't appeal to me very much. "Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"Do you have any idea where we're going?"

"We're headed North, as Ozpin told us to. Unfortunately it's entirely possible that we've either passed the temple, as Ozpin didn't mention a specific direction, or that we're traveling parallel to our destination."

"That's stupid. Why would Ozpin give us such vague directions? Last I checked this initiation was supposed to test our abilities, not our luck." My blood boiled as my rant began.

"Calm down, you'll attract more Grimm." Edward responded. "What I suggest is we continue North until we find the trail of other students. If they're in a similar situation they'll have engaged Grimm in combat, these skirmishes would have left signs of battle, when we find one the other students will have left a trail for us to follow. From there we can link up with other students or follow their trail to the temple." His voice took on a calm, analytical tone.

"Do we have any other options?"

"We could wander around like a pair of lost sheep."

"Shut up."

 **Hanta Tori's POV**

One thing I loved about Vale was the weather. Everything looked so warm and peaceful when compared with the cold, desolate mountains of Ishiyama Hongan-ji. The trees had thick branches full of dark green leaves, and while I did prefer the sakura and pine trees back home.

'Apparently they keep their color for several months before going bare in winter. I wish the cherry blossoms were around that long. I'll have to come back in Autumn.'My musings were interrupted by the sound of several Grimm approaching behind me. 'It all must come to an end eventually.' I thought with a hint of sadness.

Half a dozen Beowolves charged out of the forest, a predatory gleam in their eyes. They lacked bone plating, marking their youth. 'What a shame, to live such a short meaningless existence.' Each of these Grimm were driven by impulse and instinct, not by hatred or malice. As I drew _Lotus_ they managed to close half the distance between us. When the first Beowolf came within thirty feet I opened up with my naginata, firing the integrated rifle into their ranks. Three of them went down before I was forced to address one who had gotten a bit too close for comfort. Taking a swing with Lotus, I targeted the Beowolf's right shoulder.

'All those hours at the tatami mats are starting to pay off.'I thought as the flesh, sinew, muscle, and bone was cleanly severed. The beast howled in pain as I took a step back and fired the last rifle cartridge into its chest. Unfortunately I didn't have time to reload as the rest of the pack fell upon me. A chill ran down my spine as a howl tore through the forest, calling more Grimm to battle. The pair of canines in the initial pack were felled by a bisecting cut and a impalement strike respectively.

I could hear more Beowolves coming in my direction. There was no time to flee, all I could do was prepare to stand my ground. I removed one of the thin, cylindrical Dust cells at by side and loaded it into a compartment near Lotus's blade before pushing several rifle cartridges through the loading gate. I finished loading the eighth round as three more Grimm burst through the forest. My hand moved through muscle memory, depressing a button near the butt of _Lotus's_ shaft as I stabbed the ground in front of me.

Grass and shrubbery burst into flame as the Fire Dust in my weapon burned the forest floor. The Beowolves reared up, instinctively protecting themselves from the flames as I began firing my rifle. Each of them were killed by body shots. It came to mind that the the Temple's Menta would be proud of me, as a lesser warrior would've panicked. My celebration was cut short as an Ursa Major and six Minors rushed me from the left flank. The leader pinned me to the ground and Lotus was knocked out of my hands. Air was torn from my lungs as I raised my armored forearms above my face to protect myself as a paired set of claws came reigning down. When the Major leaned back in preparation to bite though my hands I threw my left arm out and cast my Semblance. The covered limb took on a deep emerald glow as my Aura took physical form before lancing forth to impale the Ursa through the chest.

Its corpse fell forward pinning me to the floor and the other Grimm lunged forward to avenge their leader. In a last desperate maneuver I channeled my Aura around my body, preparing to unleash it in all directions. Before I could follow through with this act several gunshots rang through the clearing and I heard several corpses hit the ground.

"Seems like a bad time to take a nap friend." Someone called out from his perch in a nearby tree.

"Thanks for the warning." I said as I augmented my strength to lift the body off of me. "Would you be so kind as to come down here?"

"Don't see why not." By now I realized his drawling accent. "You got a partner yet?"

"Unfortunately I've been all on my lonesome since I landed, with nothing but the wildlife to keep me company. I'm assumin' you're in my boots."

"You can say that." I finally managed to free myself from underneath the Ursa as my new partner descended from his tree. When I finally got a good look at him the first things I noticed was the long rifle in his hands, and the pair of pointed canine ears poking out of his hat. "I'm Tori." I extended my hand in greeting.

"Solum." He responded taking my hand. "I think I saw some ruins on my way down. Would you mind if I took the lead?"

"Not at all."

 **Solum Latro's POV**

'Tori seems nice enough and, more importantly, he can handle himself.' I thought as I kept walking through the forest. 'Seems like a bit of a greenhorn though.' It was almost amusing, watching the Samurai eye the forest around him, skittish as a mouse. "You can relax you know. I'll hear any of the beasties before they get too close."

"You sure? There's a lot going on here."

"Bud, if I weren't sure I wouldn't've put my rifle on safe." I put a bit of a smirk on my face.

He waited a moment. "Good point."

We continued for another thirty minutes or so when several distant gunshots off to my right caught my attention. I turned my canine ears slightly to get a better idea of the situation, and realized that many of the gunshots were overlapping. "There's a fight over this way, three mile walk at most. If I was at the card table I'd bet that's where the temple is."

"Why are we still standing here then?"

"Hell if I know… Just wanted to see if you wanted to go Greenhorn."

"It's not like we have anything else to do."

I smiled for a moment. "You know, we're gonna get along just fine."

 **Edward Laura's POV**

I stared across the clearing, thoroughly confused by the carnage before me. Nevermore feathers peppered one side of the field, and a massive sheet of ice stood just behind the foremost feather. 'You know what, I really don't want to know what happened here.'

"May, how long is the range on that SMG of yours?"

"Hundred, hundred fifty yards? Never tried to push my luck farther than that."

"That'll have to work then. You able to climb one of those trees?"

"Not a problem. Just give me a minute." My partner's maroon Aura flared as she leapt nearly thirty feet onto a tree branch.

'That won't draw any attention.' I thought bitterly as nearly half the tree shook. "Cover me from there, I'll get a relic. If anything's too far away for you to hit ping my scroll. Do you remember my frequency?"

"Yeah. Good luck."

"If I need luck to grab a relic from an open field than something's gone horribly wrong."

I wasn't trying to be funny, but May still laughed.

"True."

I kept my revolver drawn as I crossed the clearing, hoping I would hear any threats before they got into close quarters. 'Not much of a temple is it?' I thought as I approached the structure. It reminded me more of an amphitheater or an ancient forum. 'By the Gods, what do you define as a relic Ozpin? I'm fairly sure Chess pieces don't count.' On top of that, several of the objects had been knocked over. With a sigh I picked one at random and started walking back towards my partner.

"Did you get the relic?"

"I found a chess piece, so either Ozpin's getting senile or Vale's definition of Relic is vastly different from Spearpoint's.

"What? Let me see." I produced the piece for May. "Why'd you pick the black rook?"

"It was the closest one, and I really don't think this'll matter."

"Fair enough. You think there's any thought put into Initiation?"

"Of course." May gave me a skeptical look. "Want me to explain it when we're back on the cliffs?"

"If you can find any reason to this madness I'll kiss you."

"I'd rather not date my partner, I'd cause too many conflicts of interest while on mission."

"Read, you were talking out your ass." For some reason May was smiling.

"If four years in Spearpoint Academy taught me anything it's that dating your squadmates never ends well."

She was quiet for a few seconds. "I was trying to be funny. Ya' know, lighten the mood a bit when trapped in a Grimm infested forest."

'Congratulations moron. You've been hanging around the Embassy's guards too long.' I thought. "My apologies."

"Whatever. Let's just get moving."

"Lead the way."

 **Hanta Tori's POV**

By the Gods did I hate these things. Ursa had been harassing Solum and I on and off for the last half hour. On their own they weren't much of a threat, but they were wearing down our supplies of ammo and Dust. I had burned through my rifle ammunition and Solum was constantly checking the leather pouch where he kept his spare clips. We finally reached the…..

"That's not a temple."

"Eh, semantics." Solum said.

"No, not semantics. A temple is a holy place, not some display."

"If you've got a problem with Ozpin calls a building take it up with him. We have more a job to do."

Solum and I walked over to the obviously not a temple and picked up a chess piece before starting the long trek back to the cliffs. About half way there Solum put a hand on my shoulder.

"Grimm, three o'clock." We readied our weapons as the creature finally came into earshot. It looked something like a porcupine, with several of the spines either damaged or destroyed. The Grimm began stalking towards us.

"Ericius, how do you wanna play this?"

"I don't know these things. You got any experience?"

"Only through the scope of my rifle, and a couple hundred yards of distance."

"Any unarmored areas?"

"Underside of their jaw, belly, and the pads, Shit!"

The Grimm fired off several spines before charging us. One of the pointed projectiles slammed into the chestpiece of my armor, slamming the breath from my lungs, knocking one of the hexes out, destroying several of the steel links, before finally being stopped by my Aura. I stumbled back, holding my naginata out in front of me to keep the Ericius at bay. A gunshot hit its right foreleg, causing even more damage to the spines. As the Grimm turned to address Solum I used the last of the Ice Dust in _Lotus_ to send a spike, not unlike the spine that nearly impaled me, through its left hind leg. With an earth shaking roar it reared up in pain, only to have several high velocity Dust tipped rifle rounds rip their way through its underbelly.

"Nice aim Greenhorn. I'll have to remember that trick next time I'm driving the herd."

"Glad I could help."

As we continued through the forest the cliffs finally came into sight. The only problem was that neither of us saw a way across. "Damn. Any chance you have a pair of wings under that armor?"

"I wish. Wasn't there a bridge here earlier, I remember seeing one on the way down?"

"Hell if I know, I was looking for the temple."

 **Hello again. Sorry for the long wait, RL's gotten busy recently as boot camp draws near. I'll be gone after April 4th, although I will return after basic is over. I'll do my best to pump out as much content for you as possible before I leave.**

 **As far as the chapter itself goes, I didn't want to make Initiation overly action heavy, as I wanted to introduce the rest of the team. Action will come later though, when I can weave tension and uncertainty into the conflict.**

 **Thank you all for taking the time to read this chapter. If you want to leave a review, positive or negative i'd be greatly appreciated.**

 **See you all next time.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, or the AU this story takes place in. This story is an expansion of From Hunted to Hunter. RWBY belongs to Roosterteeth and the AU belongs to CC-2224 Commander Cody.**

 **Hanta Tori's POV**

This was bad. Really really bad. I don't know what Ozpin was smoking, but it didn't matter. He had just appointed a GOD DAMN FIFTEEN YEAR OLD! As a team leader. He had also named someone who had been missing for the last five years, despite the fact that no one knows how he was trained, who he was trained by, or what the hell he's been doing during that time. On top of that he was wearing BLACK FIST COMBAT FATIGUES! Now, that's just the beginning. Apparently teams had been decided by the stupid chess pieces in the obviously not a temple, instead of any logical sense. So, there's a very real possibility that a team could be composed of four numbskulls with completely incompatible skill sets. Fortunately I was given a competent team to lead.

Right now May, Solum, and I were on our way to our assigned dorm. Edward had left after SNST had been called up, claiming that he needed to report back to his superiors. I knew the truth, but it's not like I could do much about the situation. Besides, I was probably going to notify the Shogun at the earliest opportunity. When we reached the dormitory building I used my scroll to open the door and stepped inside. It was small, but didn't feel cramped. Four beds were placed equally spaced on the back wall. A desk was on the right side of the door, and a rolling chair came with it.

May seemed happy with it. "I call the right corner!" I turned to Solum, gesturing to the remaining bunks. In response he just shrugged and placed his bag and suitcase on the second bed to the left. I took the bed between them for myself, knowing that Edward prefered to have his back and side to a wall.

"I want lights out at 10:00. Dinner's being served until eight. Make sure to eat something."

"Will do boss. You mind if I clean my gun here?"

"Just don't go blowing holes in the wall." I then pointed at May. "You pay for whatever catches fire."

"Okay. You guys mind if I put a spare sheet or something between your beds? I don't wanna wait for the bathroom to change."

"Go for it."

"Won't mind."

"Thanks. Soooooooooo, you know where I can get a spare sheet?"

"Nope. The Professors might know."

She groaned. "I'll be back in a bit."

"Good luck."

After she left Solum and I went about cleaning our weapons. "You got any idea when Edward's gonna join us?"

"Nope." I lied. "Whoever he's calling must be keeping him."

"Want me to go looking for him?"

"If you want. I don't think it's all that big a deal."

Shrugging, Solum went back to cleaning his weapon. "Something's off with that guy. Who's he talkin' to?"

"You'll have to ask him. Maybe he's just calling his family and letting them know that he made it."

"Than what's with the cloak and dagger?"

"Hell if I know. This is the guy who walks around in a greatcoat with a military saber, maybe he's just being grandiose."

"That'll get irritating pretty quick."

"I'll talk to him about it."

We went about cleaning our weapons for the next half hour, until Edward finally came back to our dorm.

"Sorry I was gone for so long. Ambassador Slate was grilling me on what happened in Initiation."

"How'd that go?" I smirked a bit, my grandfather had told me quite a few stories about the man.

"About as well as a Grimm petting zoo. He didn't believe that Ozpin was so cryptic."

"I wouldn't believe you either."

"Anyway, either of you know where May went?"

Solum chuckled. "Our ginger friend went looking for extra bedsheets." When Edward looked incredulous he continued. "She wants to hang them from the ceiling, have her own little corner."

"Seems reasonable enough." The swordsman shrugged. He then set down his bags and started cleaning his weapons. To my surprise the blade of Edward's saber wasn't one piece, and actually separated into several different sections halfway up. I was about to ask him what that was for when May came back from her quest.

"Does anyone have a ladder or something?"

 **The Next Morning: May Ignis' POV**

My first day at Beacon had taken an interesting turn. I had been the last of my team to wake up, though I had an hour before my first class. After breakfast I attended History with Prof- sorry, Doctor Oobleck, Dust Properties with Professor Frost, and I was currently suffering through Grimm Studies with Professor Port.

I felt the draw of sleep, which was only magnified by my boredom. Apparently Port's "teaching method" was based around self-aggrandizing stories of his glory days. From what I remembered, which wasn't much, it was nearly impossible. My partner, on the other hand, paid rapt attention. His pen moved constantly, meticulously recording the position positions and status of every party involved in the story. To my surprise he had a smile on his face.

At the conclusion of each story Port called Artheal Archenar up to fight a Grimm in front of the class. While he retrieved his weapon Edward had pulled out a separate notebook and started taking down notes on the other student's weapon. From what I could tell it was a pair of revolver swords connected at the pommels to form a staff. While I understood that my partner may want to study the Grimm, I couldn't figure out why he was studying the weapon. 'A question for later.'

The cage on the other side of the classroom rattled and shook, a low growl from its occupants silenced the whispers of my classmates. Artheal drew his weapons and assumed a guard position with the weapon held parallel to his hips. Port's axe came down, destroying the cage's lock and unleashing two young Beowolves upon Artheal.

The student moved with blinding speed and in a blur of steel the first Grimm's legs were cut out from underneath it, sending half the monster bouncing comically across the floor. Artheal's second opponent barely avoided a similar fate, the blade of his weapon missing my inches. The sound of a latch uncoupling cut through the air as my classmate disconnected his weapons and unloaded them into the Beowolf. Large caliber bullets tore through the beast's thick dark hide as it fell with a groan.

Nearly everyone in the class, including me, was cheering and clapping at Artheal's performance. Even Edward was clapping and smiling politely. Before the applause died down I noticed him to take one last note down.

 _Further Examination Required_

 **Hanta Tori's POV**

For the first time in my life I knew the appeal of tourism. Beacon felt so different from Ishiyama Hongan-Ji. The Masters, called Professors here, weren't nearly as strict, and I loved it. Nearly all of them were willing to put off what they were doing and have a casual conversation with the students in their charge. Doctor Oobleck had and I had just finished talking about the siege of my home during the Great War, a full hour of his time just to learn the history of a moderately sized city in the Mantle Highlands. Now I was on the way to a sparring class supervised by Professor Goodwitch, a combination that struck me as rather strange. From what I knew of her Professor Goodwitch fought with some kind of magic and to my knowledge she didn't study more conventional martial arts, what qualified her to criticise students of such arts?' I shook the thought from my mind. It wasn't my place to challenge her authority.

"How're you doing Tori?" Solum called out as I entered the locker room.

"I'm doing fine. How are you?"

"Only thing that'd make today better is a cold drink and some target practice."

"I wouldn't mind that. Maybe we can find the range after class."

"Sounds good to me." The Faunus said, disassembling his rifle. "Did you get a good look at the arena on your way here?"

"Not really. Sorry."

My partner shrugged and pulled a large bundle of cloth from his locker. "No need to apologize bud." As the bundle unrolled itself I saw a large number of gun barrels, stocks, actions, and other modifications for the rancher's weapon, even more than what I had seen earlier.

"Do you have enough there for another weapon?" I said jovially.

His answer made my jaw drop. "Actually yes, before I left home I managed to build five rifles out of this."

My mind went blank. "Than why aren't you carrying more weapons?"

"'Cause I'm a lazy sonofabitch." Solum was smiling from ear to ear, and it took me a moment to catch his pun.

"I see what you did there."

With our weapons prepared Solum and I wandered over to the seating area, where we found May talking enthusiastically with an olive skinned girl with dark green eyes.

"-don't know much about Edward though. He kinda keeps to himself."

"I wouldn't worry about it. He'll open up eventually."

"I hope so." The mechanic responded listlessly. It must be difficult for a social butterfly like May to know next to nothing about her partner.

"Mind introducing us to your friend here May?" The second girl smiled coyly at Solum's comment.

"Sure!" She said, her voice recovering its normal enthusiasm. "Topaz, this is my team leader Tori, and his partner, Solum." May gestured to each of us in turn.

My partner removed his hat as he took Topaz's hand. "Good to meet you Topaz."

For my part I gave a slight bow. "It's always a pleasure to meet one of May's friends."

Topaz gave us a small smile. "So you're May's illusive teammates." She turned to me. "I thought you were taller."

My irritation barely colored my tone. "The stage does add a few inches."

The olive skinned girl was about to respond when she glanced over my shoulder. "Well now it's a party. You must be Edward."

I nearly flinched as the Grey Mask took the neat to my partner. 'How did I not notice him?'

"My apologies Miss, have we met?"

"Nope, but May won't shut up about you. The mysterious gentleman she found in the forest."

His voice held an amused tone. "Is that the case? If it would fit the image I could carry my walking stick."

"Nah, I can see it." She offered the nobleman her hand. "Topaz Ignacia."

"Edward Laura." They shared a firm handshake. Before the conversation could continue Professor Goodwitch asked for volunteers. May, Topaz and I immediately stood while Edward and Solum remained in their seats. Unfortunately none of us were called for the first bout, and we waited for about half an hour. As I observed the fights with only passing interest I noticed Edward taking pen and paper notes on each of our contemporaries in a black notebook. While I couldn't make out what he was writing it was obvious that he was writing down every detail that he noticed, as his pen almost never stopped moving.

I was about to ask him why he was taking notes on our fellow students when Professor Goodwitch announced the next fight. Edward was to face Weiss Schnee. The coincidence nearly caused me to laugh aloud. Spearpoint wasn't exactly on friendly terms with Atlas, and now two of their upper class were about to fight it out in the dueling arena. As I turned to Edward to comment I saw him placing his notebook in his bag before padlocking it. 'Well you're a little paranoid.' I thought with some amusement.

"Let me guess, you're going to show that princess how a soldier fights?"

Edward seemed unamused by my comment. Responding in a cool, professional tone. "Every student here is attending Beacon for the same reason, to become the Hunters who defend Mankind from the Hordes of Grimm. Therefore we're all on the same side, regardless of external politics."

Solum couldn't help but comment. "Whatever you say Ambassador Spock."

The nobleman shrugged it off and headed down to the locker room. When he returned I noticed something was off immediately. Edward wasn't wearing any of his ceramic armor or Kevlar-woven clothing, instead wearing a simple cloth version of his greatcoat, purple tee shirt, fatigues, and boots. He also lacked the distinct Grimm battle helmet that was common in his nation's military. Drawing his Saber, Edward offered his opponent a salute before settling into an inside guard with the point of his sword towards the ceiling. Weiss returned it, and adopted a point forward position.

Goodwitch called the start of the match, prompting both Edward and Weiss to charge forward, each attempting to overwhelm the other with a furious offensive barrage. Weiss was linear and direct, using the point of her rapier to force her larger opponent to stay at arm's reach. Edward's style was dynamic, including several superfluous flourishes and relied mainly on the cut over the thrust. The nobleman's strikes and flourishes were executed with mind numbing speed, the glow of his violet Aura radiating like a beacon.

It was nothing like what I had seen from Laura before. This swordplay was aggressive, flamboyant, excessive, and came at the cost of stamina and defense. Simply put, it was everything he hated about the fighting styles of his fellow students. It was with both ire and admiration I realized why he had abandoned his armor, and adopted such an inefficient technique. All warfare is deception, and several other students were observing their contemporaries in an attempt formulate strategies and tactics which would counter them. By adopting a martial arts technique so far removed from what he normally employed Edward ensured that he would hold a massive advantage when the time came to reveal his deceit. Therefore, it came as no surprise when he conceded defeat less than thirty seconds into the fight.

As my classmates applauded the display of swordsmanship and aggression displayed by both sides of the bout, I could only feel disappoint towards my teammate. He claimed that we were all on the same side yet he chose to hide his capabilities from the student body at large. I understood why he did it, as any White Fang or Black Fist Hunters may be watching the bouts and analyzing him. But the ease with which he chose to lie to those around him chilled me to the bone. As both fighters returned to the locker room to stow their weapon I sent Edward a text message. We would need to talk after class had concluded.

Before I could fester in my negative emotion Solum groaned with boredom. "You think I'll get a fight today boss?"

May cut in before I could respond. "Don't complain Solum. You didn't even stand when Goodwitch asked for volunteers."

"Touché." The cowboy replied. Within the next few minutes Edward rejoined us and some idle conversation reigned until the next fight began. I didn't plan to pay much attention to the fight until Solum started oogling one of the combatants, a red haired Faunus girl wielding an axe and shield faced off against Artheal Archenar.

Professor Goodwitch called for the duel to begin and a barrage of lead erupted from Sienna's axe as Artheal charged, revolver swords roaring. Several bullets impacted Sienna's shield as Artheal entered striking range. The first blow was a diagonal cleave which knocked the faunus's shotgun off line, the next would've struck her weapon arm if she hadn't sidestepped the blow.

With Sienna's shield positioned squarely in front of her body Artheal hesitated. He had no immediate way of bypassing the shield, and she seemed content to allow her opponent the offensive initiative. This lull in the fighting lasted less than a second before the swordsman exploded into action, his movements resembling an acrobat on an adrenaline rush.

Artheal rained blows upon Sienna's bulwark defense, constantly switching between dual blades, his swordstaff, and the ranged attack. The Shieldmaiden was forced into a defensive posture, as Artheal swords had a longer reach than Sienna's axe and the boy was careful to stay on Sienna's left side, denying her a clean shot without moving the shield. In effect, ensuring that she couldn't shoot him without abandoning her defense entirely.

Through it all there was one factor that was in the Shieldmaiden's favor, armor. Sienna was clad in a Dust Imbued chainmail from her shoulders to her knees. This mesh of hardened steel rings made Artheal's cuts largely ineffective if they got through, and his acrobatics robbed him of both the power and precision needed to drive a thrust through. It had been a minute and a half, and the battle had reached a stalemate. Artheal was flying at Sienna, while she buckled down to endure the storm.

Something had to give, and Artheal made the first mistake. As he landed a jump he tried to reconnect his swords at their pommels, which gave Sienna just enough time to step forward and backhand the swordsman with the boss of her shield. He staggered back and in the second it took to regain his balance Sienna brought her shotgun back on line and fired a full shell of buckshot into his chest before following up with an axe blow.

Artheal recovered just in time to bat aside the blow with one end of his swordstaff. His second blade came around and Sienna wasn't able to bring her shield around in time and was forced to tank the hit with her armor. The force of the Aura-powered blow burst several of the hauberk's links, and her Aura flashed to prevent any serious damage. Before her opponent was able to defend the Shieldmaiden retaliated with another shot in blast to the chest. Riding the force of the hit, Artheal flipped several feet back to gain some distance.

Next to me Edward pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering. "Don't disengage you fool. She has the advantage at range." When my attention returned to the ring I saw that he was right. Artheal had retreated twenty yards back and was once again unloading his revolvers at the faunus. While several rounds impacted Sienna's shield the spread of her shotgun allowed her to consistently damage the swordsman's Aura.

Two minutes had passed since Goodwitch started the sparring match and Sienna had taken a solid lead, seventy percent of her Aura to Artheal's forty five. Artheal recognized his disadvantage and ramped up his offensive, further augmenting himself with his Aura. A typhoon of cuts, thrusts, and the occasional bullet came crashing down upon Sienna's defense. Step by step she was driven back until her back was to the wall.

Without warning a translucent bubble cocooned the faunus, forcing the swordsman back several feet. Now that distance had been reestablished Sienna continued to fire until her shotgun was empty. The Shieldmaiden reloaded her weapon and braced for another attack. Several seconds passed without action and I felt Solum tense to my right.

"Come on. Hear it."

I was about to ask my partner what he meant when Sienna charged the pillar Artheal was hiding behind. As soon as the Faunus began her charge a bright light emanated from Artheal's side of the arena. We were all blinded as several gunshots cracked through the air. I heard several impact the Faunus's shield as she backpedaled.

As the light faded I noticed that Sienna's Aura had dropped significantly, some bullets must have struck her. When the light was gone Artheal charged his opponent, trying to drive the point of his weapon into her neck. She met the swordsman's charge with one of her own, hooking the blade of Artheal's staff and slamming the rim of her shield into his side. The two engaged in a steel dance. Axe, sword, and steel meeting in staccato bursts accentuated by gunfire. I had to force myself not to duck as several rounds hit the forcefield protecting the spectators.

Little by little the Aura gauges ticked down until Sienna managed to to hook her axe head in between Artheal's hands in the middle of his staff. A swift strike with the face of her shield tore the weapon from his hands and caused the swordsman to fall to the floor. Before he could recover Sienna fired a shotgun blast into her downed opponent, ending the match in her favor.

My partner was grinning from ear to ear. "Finally, someone who knows how to take care of herself."

"What do you mean finally?" Edward smiled. "Miss Schnee soundly defeated me in my bout."

"Well you need to git gud Eddy. My fair maiden down there's got you beat at your own game."

May decided to play along. "Awww…. Puppy love."

This earned her a stern look from me, and a bark of laughter from Solum.

It wasn't until the second half of class until another fight demanded my attention. Simon Alexander and Nyanza Torres of team SNST were to face off against Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren of JNPR. I noticed Solum tense up when he saw Simon's Black Fist combat uniform, not that I could blame him. Edward's pen scratched against the paper of his notebook, detailing Simon's performance against JNPR and I tried to make sense of their tactics. It became clear fairly quickly that everyone involved preferred to make up plans on the spot instead of planning ahead, not unlike how I operated, but JNPR's members must've fought together before. Simon was in close combat with Ren but it quickly became clear that Ren was the superior martial artist, landing several repeated blows on his opponent. Nyanza was actually doing fairly well against Nora, having effectively used what looked like tethered knives to stay out of her hammer's reach whilst peppering her with blades.

Simon's Aura glowed orange and Ren slowed down considerably. SNST's leader grabbed Ren's ponytail and prepared to deliver a kill blow when Nora slammed her hammer into the side of his head. As he recovered from the blow Simon threw a grenade at Nora's feet, preventing her second blow from connecting, though he was eliminated soon afterward. That left Nyanza to face Nora alone, and that was like throwing a wolf against a bear. Needless to say SNST's remaining member soon felt the face of Miss Valkyrie's hammer.

I turned to Edward, who was finishing his assessment of the participants. "Hey Ed. Why are you taking notes during the fights? It looks pretty shady." My question drew the attention of the students around me. Time to see who owned a tinfoil hat.

The nobleman laughed aloud, it was probably the most extreme reaction I had seen out of him since we'd met. "My apologies Tori. It's part of the Blademaster's tradition to research foreign martial arts, preserve that knowledge for future generations. As a mere apprentice I am not allowed to start writing a Pars Armis, but I am allowed to write about what I've seen over my career. For lack of anything better to do I'm writing a book on the different fighting styles I see whilst outside of Spearpoint. Professor Goodwitch has been kind enough to allow me to record my observations while I'm in class and Doctor Oobleck recommended several books in the library to me."

"Oh, ummm. Let me know if you need any help."

"May I interview you on the marital arts of Ishiyama Hongan-Ji after class?"

"Not a problem." Good, we'd have the opportunity to talk in private.

The rest of the fights only held passing interest, the possibility of engaging a Black Fist Hunter occupied all errant thoughts. I hadn't seen live combat before, my experience limited to the sparring dojos of my home. Many of the Samurai described the Fist as boldly aggressive, to the point of outright recklessness. Simon fit this archetype perfectly, clearly thinking that the best defense was a powerful offense. I'd prefer to avoid conflict if possible, as it wasn't my job to decide who lives and dies. My duty was simply to inform Ozpin of the infiltrator, and if he knew of Simon's former affiliations inform him of the penalties Beacon and Vale would face for violating international law should he be discovered.

When the bell rang I made my way down to the locker room to clean and stow my armor. Activity buzzed around me as my fellow students prepared for their next class, and I awaited my quarry. Edward approached me soon after we were alone in the locker room. "I'm guessing you have a plan?"

"Of sorts."

 **A/N: I have returned, and I apologize for the long wait. The Navy didn't work out, but life moves on and I cant let this bring me down. Hopefully you all are doing well, and I look forward to getting back in touch with everyone. Please let me know if my writing capabilities have atrophied over these last few months, and I will try to have the next chapter out soon.**


	6. Calm Before the Storm

**This story utilizes a modified version of the Black Fist AU made by CC-2224 Commander Cody. All copyright legalities belong to Rooster Teeth Studios.**

 **Hanta Tori's POV**

Edward's enigmatic tendencies were starting to wear on my patience. The Noble had decided to 'go on a walk' after our detainment of Simon and Ozpin's subsequent excuses. I'd bet my last lien that he was reporting back to his masters, both in Spearpoint and the Grey Masks. Of course he wouldn't wait for my opinion on the matter, whatever experience Spearpoint provided him made Laura used to operating with a degree of autonomy.

Ozpin had requested that I meet him atop the Emerald Tower, a rather imposing structure even within the castle-like academy. To my surprise the elevator ride was rather short, only a minute from the ground floor to the headmaster's office. When the door opened I was surprised to see that the floor was not composed of wood or stone, but glass covering a number of giant gears. Before I could ponder the purpose of such a design my attention was pulled away by the older man behind his desk.

"Mr. Hanta, take a seat. We have much to discuss." I performed a short bow, trying to keep my expression neutral. "Now, do you have anything you want to tell me?"

"Only that I am upholding the oaths I swore to my homeland, and carrying out the mission placed upon me."

The headmaster smiled. "Well, the Brotherhood of the Shattered Moon certainly raised you as their own." I nearly attacked off muscle memory alone, only to hold myself back when Ozpin continued. "Though I had hoped the Shogun would be more open with me about his operatives I can't say I'm surprised. Would you tell me why you're here?"

There was no point in deception here. "The Shogun has received reports that you were harboring former members of the Black Fist and White Fang at Beacon Academy. I am to investigate and report back to him."

"Investigate what? Your reports seem to be accurate. Why not leave now?"

The sound of a ticking clock nearly deafened me, every moment seeming an eternity. "The definition of my mission was vague, to allow for some autonomy."

The famed Hunter sighed. "Very well. Tori, may I be blunt with you?"

I didn't bother hiding my confusion. "You may address me as you feel necessary Headmaster, as a privilege of your station." Ozpin seemed amused by my answer, a smile forming on his thin lips.

"What you are doing here, you and Edward both, isn't exactly in good faith. The Shogun and I aren't on the best of terms, and perhaps some of that is my fault, but my recruitment is none of his concern."

"With all respect due your station, in this matter you are wrong. International law dictates that the people you recruited are to be tried by Atlas, and other settlements who have been harmed by their actions. Vale had no part in the Highlands War, and your blatant disregard of our rights flies in the face of everything you claim to stand for." I felt the old man stare directly into my soul, though I did not know what he searched for. The ticking of his clock still rang in my ears. "Well? What do you have to say Headmaster?"

Whatever malice, if any, Ozpin felt towards me was well hidden. "I must say you're quite dedicated, an admirable trait in many ways. Even if it's often difficult to work with. Mr. Hanta, you have been given a chance to bring justice to those who may have escaped its grasp, and you also have the power to condemn those who deserve no such fate. Now it is your time to choose."

I stood there dumbfounded. "I am not sure what you mean Headmaster."

Ozpin just smiled. "You'll figure it out. Now, there is one other thing we need to discuss. Are you aware of Edward Laura's allegiances?" My silence was all the answer he needed. "I see… just ensure he stays out of trouble. The Inquisition has no business operating in Vale."

"Wait? Inquisition? What are you talking about?"

For once, Ozpin seemed surprised. "Oh… it seems you need to talk to your teammate." He sounded a bit sheepish.

"No I don't. You are going to tell me what this is about before I walk over to the CCT and share my discoveries with Atlas."

"Tori, there's no reason to be hostile. Ask Edward, if he doesn't cooperate I'll fill you in."

I made no effort to hide my suspicions. "If this is some kind of trick you will not hold this office through the week."

"Hopefully it will not come to that. Good luck Tori."

The stress of it all got to me. "I'll need it." This time Laura would speak straight or loose his tongue.

* * *

 **The Spearpoint Embassy Edward Laura's POV**

The sound of a roaring engine filled the sparring arena of the embassy's training floor, and the Blademaster's chain macuahuitl came screaming towards me. Retreating a step, I raised my longsword into a position to thrust as the cycling blades roared by. It took every ounce of willpower I possessed not to scramble back from the weapon.

My opponent smiled as he saw through my plan and failed to fully commit to the swing, instead using the momentum of the aborted attack to bring the weapon around to my head. In an attempt to protect myself I blocked high, only for the rotating teeth to nearly rip my weapon from my hand. It was the great challenge of fighting large toothed chain-weapons, the rapidly rotating teeth made complex parries and blade binds nearly impossible. One's best hope for defending against such a weapon was evasion or a suit of plated armor.

Now I was solidly on the defensive, desperately backpedaling in an attempt to put some distance between myself and the Blademaster. Repeated impacts of the spinning blades against my sword made my hands go numb whilst trying to defend. Unfortunately my adversary's colossal skill advantage meant that a martial counterattack wasn't a viable option, especially with that damned macuahuitl.

I lunged forward with my longsword, looking to stab Master Gerit through the chest. As I predicted he parried the blade, the rotating teeth and angle of his maneuver ripped the weapon out of my hand. While he was occupied I channeled my aura into my left gauntlet and unleashed a burst of violet-blue lightning, the sudden arcane strike staggering his advance and allowing me to put distance between us. With the initiative back in my hands I drew the pair of messer hilts at my side and charged back in.

A pair of Dust imbued steel blades sprang forth from the handles as I lunged, feeling the blade of my weapon impact Master Gerit's Aura millimeters from his chest. Pointed teeth smiled as the blade retracted into the hilt, his macuahuitl meeting only air. The battle had reached a crossroads, if I could keep my weapons out of contact with with the rotating blades there was a chance I could slip past his guard.

With the situation being what it was I did the only sensible thing, concede. The officer seemed displeased with my choice. "You can't just call off the fight every time you're outmatched Laura."

"And what? Pray to Ewald that I can apply Fraus well enough to avoid contacting that monstrosity? A victory on my part would be nothing more than a fluke, serving only to inflate my own ego."

"Or you could discover a new means to circumvent my weapon." The blademaster's spotted feline ears twitched.

"The logistics of your weapon are but a single variable in a larger equation. Your Auratic power outstrips mine to a substantial degree, as does your physicality." I waved my hand casually.

"So you'll just run away when out of your league?" Quattro responded incredulously.

"I never said that." My smirk was all the warning the Faunus received. He went to raise his weapon as needle thin spike of ice emerged from my outstretched right gauntlet, terminating less than a centimeter from his eye. "In some cases it is perfectly acceptable for a gentleman to cheat."

My stratagem caused the older man great amusement if his laugh was anything to go by. "Damned magic, sometimes it's hard to believe that you're Ferro's pupil."

"In battle a warrior must continually assess the methods through which to dispatch their adversary. Take the path of least resistance." I quoted.

"Fair enough. Just remember that won't always be an option."

I rapped my gauntlets together. "Whatever you say Blademaster."

Master Gerit's demeanor shifted drastically, warm jest turning to a strict command. "Do not forget your limitations Laura. Arrogance has killed far greater warriors than you."

"Of course master." Like I'd forget.

For half a minute I was subjected to his gaze, as though he could see into my soul until the Faunus nodded and made his way towards the armory. "With me." While softer, his voice remained strong. Gerit's tail lashed too and fro with every step he took. "Do you feel that you've been given ample opportunity to study your classmates?"

"One day in, I can see why so many at Bellcia Castle think lowly of the Kingdom's tutelage. The majority of my contemporaries, those who prefer close combat to ranged tactics, are hyper-aggressive offensive heavyweights. They depend almost entirely on their ability to overwhelm their opponents with sheer offensive output without regard for defensive viability or transition. There's no standardization of weaponry or organized drills, severely limiting the ability of a tutor to assist those who are struggling." I hesitated before continuing.

The Blademaster stopped before the armory, turning in his weapon and motioning for me to do the same. "I'm sensing a 'but' here."

"Ultimately these students are training to fight a different war. The greatest threat they expect to face are the Demon hordes, not their fellows. As the Kingdoms do not integrate their Hunters with their militaries as completely as we do, standardization and consistency is not their top priority."

Gerit's smile broke through a dour mood of his own creation. "Very good. You're learning. Continue your present course of action, maintain your cover. You will maintain your status as our liaison within the Order of the Grey Mask. Assist them in tracking down the Fist and Fang fugitives within Vale. Once found leave them to the proper authorities, Atlas holds the right to extradite them for trial."

All it left was one question. "And the Grey Masks?"

"As long as they adhere to the terms of our agreement there will be no reason to act against them."

"But the Black Rider-"

"Is not a threat. Grandmaster Cain has mastered the power within him, no matter how Heretical it may be."

"They're a Rouge Order, a single vote saved them from being declared Insidias Hominum-"

"Their status is irrelevant. They came offering us assistance in this matter. You are to assist them in all ways possible, unless their orders would require you to break your vows. Is that understood Apprentice Laura?"

"Yes Master Gerit."

"Return here after the conclusion of your classes tomorrow. Master Ferro has requested weekly updates on your capabilities, and I shall accommodate. Dismissed."

Bowing, I retrieved my saber and revolver from the armory. A spell of distaste ran through me as I sheathed the weapons. To handicap myself with superfluous acrobatics and sloppily integrated gunplay was an egregious mockery of my abilities, my training, and my mentors. My only solace was in the advantage this deception would bring, as I could almost imagine the shock my adversaries would experience once I revealed what I was truly capable of.

Stowing the tools of my falsehood I went to observe the arena's other occupants. A smile came to my face as I saw a martial arts demonstration, though it disappeared the moment I saw who took part. A single man, clad in a simple tunic and a pair of loose fitting trousers, utilized a quarterstaff to fend off the sword bayonets of three Guardsmen. It was obvious that neither side was trying to harm each other, the man limited his blows to mere taps and the guardsmen never attempted to truly swarm their 'adversary.'

A calm, sagely, voice emanated from the man's throat. "Distance is both an enemy and ally. A long weapon may keep a single enemy at bay, several if you are skilled. However-" the guardsmen surged forward, one used the the bayonet and barrel of their weapon to bind the staff whilst the other two rushed their opponent. The first to reach him tripped the speaker and threw him to the ground whilst the second planted a boot on his chest and forced the speaker to stare down a rifle barrel. "If you cannot maintain this distance your weapon's length becomes a liability." Half a dozen observers nodded and muttered in agreement. "Corporal, you may remove your boot from my chest if you'd like." The soldier nodded and hastily retreated from the speaker. "Is there anything else which requires explanation Private?"

"No Sir. Thank you for your time."

"It was a pleasure." Varian finished. The Komodo Faunus turned to return the staff to the armory when he saw me. I made my own way back to the armory to await him. Once he arrived I tried to draw a sword that wasn't there. "Apprentice Laura, it has truly been too long. When did we last meet?"

"One year ago, when I had you arrested for Treason and Heresy."

"Ah, good times. Your blade at my throat, my claws against your stomach. That beautiful sister of yours, ready to incinerate me should I twitch." A forked tounge shot from his mouth, covered in paralytic saliva. "By the Gods I've missed speaking with you."

"Which madman let you out of prison. I'd love to have them tried for Incompetence."

The ex-convict laughed, his serpentine eyes twitching with amusement. "And just who would try the King."

I couldn't believe my ears. "What?"

"I recieved a royal pardon. The King himself allowed me to walk from the dungeons of Bellcia Castle a free man."

"Liar. The King was the first to request your execution."

Varian nearly laughed aloud. "Well His Highness, in all his mercy, must have undergone a change of heart." The damned reptile pulled a letter adorned with the Royal Seal, broken of course. "By order of King Alexander Darius II, Detainee Varian Hollow is to be set on probation, the duration of which is to be carried out at the Valen Embassy under the honorable Slate Garnet." The traitor noticed ire with a smug grin. "Do you have a problem with that Edward?"

"Quite frankly, Yes. You should be rotting in a cell. The destruction of three Bound Blades, two injured, half a dozen people dead, That's unforgivable."

A light sparked from behind those cold eyes. "If you fell so strongly about it then challenge me to a duel."

There was no hesitation. "It would be my pleasure."

* * *

Solum Latro's POV:

It had been some time since classes had ended, and by the Gods it was boring. All my weapons had been cleaned, belongings put away, and ceiling tiles had been counted, now all that was left was to find something to eat. Thanks to the layout of Beacon it was nearly impossible to get lost, with the circular arrangement allowing students to find their bearings by walking in one direction.

Within twenty minutes I had found the dining hall. By now dinner had just begun, and about a third of the first years were in line. The line moved quickly and it didn't take long for everyone to start looking for a seat. Driving herds between the Kingdom's borders had taught me that it was best to wait before you start making friends. If you get a feel for who you're working with before you pal around you're less likely to step on a hornet's nest.

While looking for a place I saw the Faunus girl from Goodwitch's class, Sienna if memory served. "May I?" I gestured to the seat across from the redhead.

"I'm waiting for someone." She replied without a glance.

"No problem, see you later." To my disappointment, she just rolled her eyes.

Having been shot down I looked for someone else to eat with. Fortunately May and Topaz were sitting down further down the table.

Topaz noticed me first, a smile on her face and a cola in her hand. "Poor poor Solum, no luck with the ladies?"

"Not now, not yet at least." I did my best mockery of the 'dashing rouge' look.

"Long as you aren't stalking her." May cut in. "This isn't a crappy romance, and I don't want to have a teammate with a restraining order."

"You honestly think I'm that kind of guy?"

"I think I've known you for one day."

Topaz nearly spit out her drink. "Daaaaaaamn, that's cold. Didn't think you had it in you."

"I try." May responded, thoroughly pleased with herself. At that moment, in the middle of my verbal beat down, Tori sat down with a Tupperware filled with sushi. Topaz's eyes went wide.

"Where'd you get that?"

My partner had already started eating, and didn't speak until he had finished the first piece. "Made it."

May almost looked offended. "You can make sushi and didn't tell us?"

"You never asked." Tori responded gruffly.

"Tori, relax. What's got you so on edge?"

My partner took a deep breath, held it for a moment, then released. "Nothing. I apologize for my demeanor May."

"It's fine, but what's got you going like this?"

The anger returned to Tori's face. "Edward's too used to working alone. After sparring class we made a citizen's arrest on an individual whom we suspected of being a Black Fist war criminal. He and I successfully detained this individual and called Ozpin to turn over to the proper authorities. Apparently Ozpin already knew of our detainee's past and had accepted them into Beacon in an attempt to begin reform."

"Who is it?" I asked, with just a hint of venom in my voice.

"I'm not at liberty to say. Ozpin swore me to secrecy." I noticed that he didn't say anything about Edward though, interesting. "Can you at least say which piece of shit judge acquitted them?"

"If I knew I would tell you." To my surprise, there was quite a bit of rage in Tori's tone. "If if we're up to me I would have the bastard expedited to Ishiyama Hongan-Ji." I could've cut the tension with a Bowie knife as fury bleed from my partner and I.

May finally spoke up. "Guys, I get it, we're all a little frustrated. I'll talk to Edward later. Then we can talk to Ozpin, when we've all calmed down." May's soft voice held a hard edge. "Until then, we all just sit back and relax. Got it?" Topaz watched with a slight smile on her face.

Tori spoke first. "Whatever you say." It was all I could do to grunt. Ozpin better have a damn good excuse for this.

 **A/N: Sorry for the long hiatus and he relatively short chapter. My life became quite busy, part time job, college, etc. I have made a few changes to the previous chapters, streamlined things just a bit. If any of you have questions the beginning of the next chapter will essentially be a Q &A for any questions you all have. Thank you for your patience.**

 **-Wa7chface**


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